‘She doesn’t talk, but she loves to smile and she loves to hug you.’ : Abandoned Girl, 11, Is Traced to County; Parents Are Sought

A mute 11-year-old girl who was apparently abandoned in a department store here two weeks ago has been identified, police said Thursday. But the girl’s name is being withheld until her parents--who live in Orange County--are located and questioned by police.

The break in the case came when a former teacher of the girl, who was in San Diego for a seminar, recognized her in a television news report, police spokesman Bill Robinson said. The teacher, who was not named, was able to tell police the name of the girl, her parents’ names and where she attended school.

San Diego detectives believe they know where the girl’s parents are, but they have not yet been located, Robinson said. Police are concerned about two other siblings who are believed to still live in the family home, he added.

Meanwhile, police and the district attorney’s office are looking over the case to decide whether to file criminal charges against the parents, Robinson said. No final decision will be reached until the parents have been interviewed.

The child was discovered wandering alone in the May Co. store at La Jolla Village Square the evening of Sept. 14. Mute, and originally believed to be deaf, the girl scrawled the name Tanya Anderson on a piece of paper. She apparently does have some hearing, however, and does respond to the name Tanya, according to her court-appointed attorney, Anna Espana.

The girl has been temporarily placed in a home with foster parents who specialize in working with children who have special needs, said Yolanda Thomas of San Diego County’s Social Services Department. “She’s in a wonderful foster home and she’s doing very, very well,” Thomas said. The child, she said, has been diagnosed as “developmentally delayed,” and is unable to speak.

On Wednesday, the girl was made a dependent of the Juvenile Court, which means, according to Thomas, that “now it’s not going to be easy for the parents just to come and take her home.”

Espana, who was appointed to the case because she is fluent in sign language, said Thursday that she believes the child can hear. At the courthouse, Espana said, she witnessed a scene in the restroom where the foster mother called out to the girl, “Tanya, close the door,” and the girl obeyed.

However, the child does have an obvious hearing impairment, Espana said. She has a tube in one ear, which appears to have been surgically implanted, her attorney said. At the time she was found, the girl’s other ear was filled with blood, and it was later discovered that she had a perforated eardrum.

Espana also said she believes that the girl did not know any sign language, but may have picked up some signing capability from her foster family.

“She doesn’t talk, but she loves to smile and she loves to hug you,” Espana said. “When I was leaving the courthouse, she tried to say ‘Bye’. . . . She made a sound, but it was a real effort.”

According to Thomas, the girl will live with the foster family only temporarily. “It is not likely that they would adopt her,” Thomas said. The girl may be put up for adoption later, depending on whether criminal charges are filed against the parents and whether reunification of the family appears to be a viable alternative, Thomas explained. “We try to work with the family to try to reunite them and try to work out the problems they may be having,” Thomas said. “Only if it doesn’t work do we terminate parental rights.”

“Sometimes, people get under terrible stress and just feel desperate, and abandon a child,” she said. “But there are a lot of other options, and if people call our hot line, we can help them.”